Visual protocol designer

Abstract

Disclosed is a graphical user interface to quickly build a graphical representation defining the set of instructions in a protocol without the user needing the programming knowledge to encapsulate those instructions in executable code. The graphical representation may include an arrangement of one or more graphical elements, with each graphical element corresponding to instructions or program logic. The user may also specify the set of parameters associated with each of the graphical elements. The arrangement of the one or more graphical elements, along with the set of parameters for each of the graphical elements, may be used to translate the graphical representation of the protocol into executable code for the protocol. The executable code for the protocol may then be executed by various flow cytometry machines in order to perform the protocol.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A method for programming protocols for a flow cytometry machine, the method comprising:
 generating and displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a workspace and a bank, wherein the bank comprises a plurality of selectable graphical elements corresponding to program logic, wherein the selectable graphical elements are configured to be moved from the bank into the workspace in response to user input; 
 receiving a first user input for moving and placing two or more of the selectable graphical elements from the bank into the workspace of the GUI into a sequence defining a graphical representation for a protocol for performing the program logic corresponding to the selectable graphical elements, wherein at least one of the selectable graphical elements is a conditional block; 
 receiving a second user input comprising selecting the conditional block in the sequence of selectable graphical elements in the workspace and associating the selected conditional block with one or more conditional statements, wherein each conditional statement defines: a target well, a metric related to a detected signal corresponding to a sample in the target well, a comparison number, and a comparison operator describing a satisfactory relationship between the metric and the comparison number; and 
 translating the graphical representation for the protocol into one or more executable instructions sent to a flow cytometry machine to perform the protocol, 
 wherein the one or more executable instructions follow the sequence, and 
 wherein the program logic corresponding to the conditional statements of the conditional block comprises Boolean relationships configured to cause execution of subsequent program logic in the sequence when the metric satisfying the relationship is produced by processing the detected signals corresponding to the samples in the target well. 
 
     
     
       2. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating and displaying the bank comprises determining selectable graphical elements that the flow cytometry machine is capable of performing the corresponding program logic. 
     
     
       3. The method of  claim 1 , wherein generating and displaying the bank comprises determining selectable graphical elements that the flow cytometry machine is not capable of performing the corresponding program logic, and displaying a button or link for ordering a flow cytometry machine component needed to performed the corresponding program logic. 
     
     
       4. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the program logic corresponding to at least one of the selectable graphical elements in the plurality of selectable graphical elements sets a reference point within the sequence conveyed by the arrangement of the graphical representation and wherein the reference point is referred to by other selectable graphical elements in the sequence. 
     
     
       5. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the GUI further comprises a preview window that displays to the user how the protocol will be executed on a selected flow cytometry machine based on the graphical representation for the protocol. 
     
     
       6. The method of  claim 5 , wherein the preview window is configured to separately display results from the program logic corresponding to a first selectable graphical element, of the selectable graphical elements, and the results from the program logic corresponding to a second selectable graphical element, of the selectable graphical elements. 
     
     
       7. The method of  claim 1 , wherein a first selectable graphical element in the workspace is further configured to be selectable to modify a set of parameters associated with the program logic corresponding with the first selectable graphical element, and wherein the first selectable graphical element is configured to be moved in the workspace after the set of parameters is modified to change the sequence. 
     
     
       8. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more executable instructions translated from the graphical representation is configured to be executed by a second flow cytometry machine different than the flow cytometry machine. 
     
     
       9. The method of  claim 1 , wherein the one or more executable instructions translated from the graphical representation are configured to be translated into a second graphical representation for the protocol comprising a second sequence of graphical elements with corresponding program logic. 
     
     
       10. The method of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 displaying a protocol preview window depicting a graphical representation of a plurality of wells and a second graphical representation of the protocol including a block for each action to be performed by the protocol; and 
 selecting a first block from the second graphical representation, and in response to selecting the first block, highlighting a first set of wells, of the plurality of wells, affected by actions corresponding to the first block with a first color. 
 
     
     
       11. A method for programming protocols for a flow cytometry machine, the method comprising:
 generating and displaying a graphical user interface (GUI) comprising a workspace and a bank, wherein the bank comprises a plurality of selectable graphical elements corresponding to program logic, wherein the selectable graphical elements are configured to be moved from the bank into the workspace in response to user input; 
 receiving a first user input causing two or more of the selectable graphical elements to be moved from the bank and arranged into the workspace of the GUI into a sequence defining a graphical representation for a protocol for performing the program logic corresponding to the selectable graphical elements; 
 displaying a protocol preview window depicting a graphical representation of a plurality of wells and a second graphical representation of the protocol including a block for each action to be performed by the protocol; 
 receiving a second user input selecting a first block from the second graphical representation, and in response to selecting the first block, highlighting a first set of wells, of the plurality of wells, affected by actions corresponding to the first block with a first color; and 
 translating the graphical representation for the protocol into one or more executable instructions sent to a flow cytometry machine to perform the protocol, wherein the one or more executable instructions follows the sequence. 
 
     
     
       12. The method of  claim 11 , further comprising:
 selecting a second block from the second graphical representation, and in response to selecting the second block, highlighting a second set of wells, of the plurality of wells, affected by actions corresponding to the second block with a second color, different from the first color. 
 
     
     
       13. The method of  claim 12 , further comprising:
 removing the first color of highlighting in response to selecting the second block. 
 
     
     
       14. The method of  claim 11 , wherein at least one of the selectable graphical elements in the sequence is a conditional block,
 wherein the method further comprises receiving a second user input corresponding to the conditional block, 
 wherein in response to the second user input the conditional block is associated with: one or more target wells, a metric for the one or more target wells, a comparison number, and a comparison operator describing a satisfactory relationship between the metric and the comparison number, and 
 wherein the program logic corresponding to the conditional block executes subsequent program logic in the sequence when the selected metric satisfying the relationship is produced by processing detected signals from the one or more target wells. 
 
     
     
       15. The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating and displaying the bank comprises determining selectable graphical elements that the flow cytometry machine is capable of performing the corresponding program logic. 
     
     
       16. The method of  claim 11 , wherein generating and displaying the bank comprises determining selectable graphical elements that the flow cytometry machine is not capable of performing the corresponding program logic, and displaying a button or link for ordering a flow cytometry machine component needed to performed the corresponding program logic. 
     
     
       17. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the program logic corresponding to at least one of the selectable graphical elements in the plurality of selectable graphical elements sets a reference point within the sequence conveyed by the arrangement of the graphical representation and wherein the reference point is referred to by other selectable graphical elements in the sequence. 
     
     
       18. The method of  claim 11 , wherein a first selectable graphical element in the workspace is further configured to be selectable to modify a set of parameters associated with the program logic corresponding with the first selectable graphical element, and wherein the first selectable graphical element is configured to be moved in the workspace after the set of parameters is modified to change the sequence. 
     
     
       19. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more executable instructions translated from the graphical representation is configured to be executed by a second flow cytometry machine different than the flow cytometry machine. 
     
     
       20. The method of  claim 11 , wherein the one or more executable instructions translated from the graphical representation are configured to be translated into a graphical representation for the protocol comprising a second sequence of graphical elements with corresponding program logic.